National Security and Civil Liberties in the 21st Century

The course will be structured as an examination of constitutional and civil liberties controversies that have arisen in the context of national security decision-making by the U.S. government, with a particular focus on the period after September 11, 2001. These legal issues may include, but are not limited to, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and domestic law enforcement investigations; the detention, treatment and trial of detainees held by the U.S.; the targeted killing of terror suspects; the First Amendment and terror investigations and prosecutions; the relative merit of federal terror trials versus military tribunals; and the necessity and use of government secrecy versus the right of the public to know about government policy and practice. The course will feature guest lecturers who are leading practitioners and thinkers in their respective fields. Textbook: The textbook will be the Dycus, Berney, Banks, Raven-Hansen, National Security Law (5th ed.). Supplemental readings will be provided.